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sammymalta

Hiring a Skydiving Plane

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Hi, do we still have to suppose that would be in Malta ?
Does your contry have specific restrictions/requirements to have a plane flying jumpers ?
For when would it be ? The end of the season is gently coming in northern europe, so planes might be easier to charter. Think England, Germany, France...
If it is just for a few days , maybe easier to get some Italians down there (shorter ferry flight)
What size plane would you need ? a C-182 or a Skyvan (or something in between) ?
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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Hi.. yes for Malta.
This would be for the summer of 2013. How many people does a skyvan hold? seated it seems 19.. according to wiki! But for skydiving??

I was hoping to get at least 7 tandems in one flight, so thats 7 instructors, 7 camera guys and 7 jumpers! (21 in total)

Regards
Sam

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I was hoping to get at least 7 tandems in one flight, so thats 7 instructors, 7 camera guys and 7 jumpers! (21 in total)



That's going to be a big plane, and you're going to need a day's worth of those loads with 7 tandems to pay for the ferry fees and day rate on the plane.

If you have 75-100 tandems per day, you can swing a plane of that size. Otherwise, you're going to have to look for a smaller (cheaper) plane, and just fly more loads. The basic idea is that you need to keep a plane flying at least one load per hour to make it work. If you can't fly at least 10 to 12 loads per day, you're going to spend a lot of money to look at a plane sit on the ground.

Think about a Caravan. It can fly 5 tandems w/video, and turn (at least) two loads per hour, and that's with one engine. Trying to fly 7 at a time is pushing you up into Twin Otter/Skyvan type planes, which are much more costly to operate.

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I know that there was skydiving in Malta a long time ago (1995 or 96) with MI8 helicopters... The DZ was at Gozo (horse track?) but the heli had to return to Malta at the end of the jump day (=expensive).

My dad rented some of his equipment to the organizers... and did some tandems there... But dont know al the details, I was 8 years old or something at the time... Good luck!
Parachute gear garage sale at :http://www.usedparachutes.eu

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Hi...

When you say Caravan.. they are like smaller planes.. so would you say they fit 15 ppl? Coz really, i dont mind the size.. i just want to be able to take up 10 ppl an hour. IE: working for 8 hours a day, i would take up 80 ppl.

Getting numbers shoudnt be a problem.
If, i use one plane or two.. the costs would make me change my decision! I would have thought that since i have to get the planes here, it would be cheaper to get a bigger plane and just have costs for landing, parking, pilots just for one plane!

But But But... if i can manage 2 small planes at the same costs i dont mind! I still need the same number of instructors and equipment!

Having said that, (being a bit optimistic), I can get three planes, but i do not know how far apart the skydivers have to jump (the timing). A small aircraft would take approx 15 mins to reach the neccessary altitude.. but the time taken to jump apart from each other and to land safely is still unknown to me. From jumping out of the aircraft to landing its about 5 mins.. (13000 ft)

Thanks
Sam

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When you say Caravan.. they are like smaller planes.. so would you say they fit 15 ppl? Coz really, i dont mind the size.. i just want to be able to take up 10 ppl an hour. IE: working for 8 hours a day, i would take up 80 ppl.



A Caravan can take 15 jumpers (5 tandems plus video), and you can run two loads per hour. So if you're looking to do 10 tandems per hour, it would fit the bill.

Another thought here, it sounds like you don't have any jump experience, or organizing experience. If that's the case, I would second the idea to contact DZs close to where you want your event, and see if any of them can provide a 'turn key' solution, where they send the plane, pilot, instructors, video guys, rigs, packers, and ground crew. There are a number of details and decisions that will need to be made during the planning and actual event, and having someone with experience on hand will really help to make things go smoothly.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it's going to cost money to set up and staff a temporary DZ. For example, I can drive 30 min to my home DZ, jump all day and make some money, and then go home to my own bed. Now if you want me to spend the time and money to travel and stay someplace else, you need to make it worth my while. Aircraft and pilot costs are one thing, an airplane that is available 'for rent', and the pilot, expect to be travelling from place to place, but the staff is another story.

So between the costs to bring the aircraft in (ferry fees) and the premium you're going to have to pay the jumping staff, you should plan to charge 30% to 50% more for the tandems to cover those costs.

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There are many questions to be asked here.....

Is there an existing DZ on Malta?. Any suitable local aircraft?.

Maltese civil aviation rules.....how do they feature?.

Is there a busy international airport nearby?....

Is there some sort of special event happening during that time period, or is this simply a money making venture?.

How are you going to recruit your tandem passengers?. Locals or tourists?.

If you are looking at peak summer season, most European DZ's and Tandem pilots will be busy doing their own thing, which means you'd have to pay a premium, maybe even give guarantees to get them.

With no apparent experience, you are biting off a big chunk organising wise.....good luck.

At least you'll have good weather.....
My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

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Thanks alot for ur info and concern. Really appreciate it.

1. Travel & Accomodation will be provided at our cost, so i dont think that would be a problem. or??

2. Am discussing with some companies to have a turnkey operation, as having everything from one source would be better.

3. Professional personell will be hired to look over the event, inlcluding safety officers.

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1. No DZ exists, and no aircraft is avalable, though modfications can be made at a cost. This is being weighed up with bringing an aircraft here.

2. Civil avaiation - in discussion with them.

3. Airport is busy i guess and our island is very small - 27km wide, but thats why there is point 2 above.

3. We are looking to coincide with another major event.

4. Recruit of passengers is the least of my worries; as it all depends on the price we charge.

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OK. Good luck.

Especially with finding enough punters to make it viable. Not always easy.

It might be an idea to bring in an experienced organiser/jump pilot to talk to CAA.

CAA generally have little knowledge of what is involved, and with a busy airport nearby are liable to be conservative intheir thinking, making the whole deal unviable.
My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

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1. Travel & Accomodation will be provided at our cost, so i dont think that would be a problem. or??



That's what I was talking about, travel and accomodations would have to be at your cost, along with a possible bump in pay as well. Again, I can stay home make my regular pay rate any weekend. If you want me to go to the trouble to travel somehwere to work, I would want to make more money for that trouble.

Either way, if you're covering all of those costs for the staff, that's where you would need to charge more for the tandems to cover those costs for yourself. If you sold tandems for the going rate in, say, Italy (which is nearby), you would have to add in the cost to ferry an aircraft down to Malta, and bring all the staff down as well. Those are costs that an established Italian DZ would not have, and the 'average' price in the region would reflect that. You, on the other hand, would have those costs to contend with, so you would need to price your jumps accordingly.

I'm not saying that to discourage you, just as a point of business to consider. It's not uncommon for jumps to be priced higher at an exotic locale, or during a special event, due to the increased costs of offering the jumps there.

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